Tunisian elections 2011 | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/tunisian-elections-2011
Full coverage of the first elections in Tunisia since the Arab spring. The vote is to elect a body which will decide on a new constitution for the north African countryen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Sun, 02 Aug 2015 21:15:13 GMT2015-08-02T21:15:13Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
Let Tunisia build a democracy, free from French interference | Sami Brahemhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/feb/17/tunisia-needs-time-democracy-free-french
Tunisian independence was won in 1956, yet French politicians and media still meddle in our affairs<p>Tunisians have burned the French flag in the streets of Tunis for the first time since<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunisian_independence" title=""> Tunisia won independence</a> from France in 1956. Last week, in Habib Bourguiba Avenue, the scene of the 14 January revolution, people stood metres from the French embassy shouting &quot;<em>Degage!</em>&quot; (Get out!) – but this time it was not directed at former president, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/zine-al-abidine-ben-ali" title="">Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali</a>, but at France.</p><p>During the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/28/tunisia-ben-ali" title="">uprising of 2010</a>, Mich&egrave;le Alliot-Marie, former foreign minister in Sarkozy's government, demanded that France provide assistance to Ben Ali to suppress the demonstrations against him. Under its new Socialist president Fran&ccedil;ois Hollande, France does not appear to have learned from Alliot-Marie's mistakes. For several weeks, the <a href="http://http://www.france24.com/en/20130209-islamists-pro-government-rally-tunis-anti-french-protests-tunisia" title="">French media</a> have waged what some Tunisians see as a campaign to discredit and vilify post-revolutionary Tunisia.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/feb/17/tunisia-needs-time-democracy-free-french">Continue reading...</a>TunisiaFranceTunisian elections 2011Middle East and North AfricaAfricaEuropeWorld newsSun, 17 Feb 2013 21:00:01 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/feb/17/tunisia-needs-time-democracy-free-frenchUncredited/APPallbearers carry the coffin of the murdered Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid through the crowds, Februarty 2013. Photograph: Uncredited/APUncredited/APPallbearers carry the coffin of the murdered Tunisian opposition leader Chokri Belaid through the crowds, Februarty 2013. Photograph: Uncredited/APSami Brahem2013-02-17T21:00:01Zينبغي على من يؤمنون بالديمقراطية أن يرحبوا بمشاركة الإسلاميين في السلطةhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/29/middleeast-egypt
من تونس الى المغرب فمصر يحصد الاسلاميون أصوات أعداد كبيرة في الانتخابات، وبدلا من أن ننظر إلى ذلك على انه تهديد لمستقبل الديمقراطية، ينبغي أن نفسح المجال للجميع دون إقصاء...<br />• <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/27/islamist-arab-spring-west-fears">Read this story in English</a><p>فوز حركة النهضة الإسلامية بـ ٤١ بالمئة من مقاعد الجمعية التأسيسة التونسية الشهر الماضي أثار جدلا واسعا حول صعود الإسلام السياسي في الواقع العربي، وانطلقت أصوات كثيرة في الإعلام الغربي تخذر من أن الربيع العربي سينتهي إلى شتاء إسلامي، ومن أن الإسلاميين الذين يمتطون الديمقراطية سرعان ما سينقلبوا عليها ويؤسسوا لإماراتهم الإسلامية ذات الصورة النمطية المنغرسة في الوعي الغربي منذ الحادي عشر من سبتمبر</p><p>حركة النهضة التونسية التي فازت بالانتخابات البرلمانية التونسية لن تكون استثناء في الواقع العربي، فقد حصل حزب العدالة والتنمية على المرتبة الأولى في الانتخابات المغربية، ومن المتوقع أن يتقدم الإسلاميون في الانتخابات التشريعية الاسبوع القادم في مصر ، وإذا أجريت انتخابات حرة ونزيهة في اليمن حال سقوط نظام الرئيس علي عبد الله صالح فمن المتوقع أن يفوز التجمع اليمني للإصلاح ذو الخلفية الإسلامية، وهو نمط سنراه يتكرر في الواقع العربي كلما أتيح للعملية الديمقراطية أن تأخذ مجراها.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/29/middleeast-egypt">Continue reading...</a>Middle East and North AfricaEgyptTunisiaTunisian elections 2011MoroccoSyriaTurkeyAfricaIslamTue, 29 Nov 2011 12:24:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/29/middleeast-egyptGuardianIllustration by Andrzej Krauze Photograph: GuardianGuardianIllustration by Andrzej Krauze Photograph: Guardianوضاح خنفر2011-11-29T12:24:00ZThose who support democracy must welcome the rise of political Islam | Wadah Khanfarhttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/27/islamist-arab-spring-west-fears
From Tunisia to Egypt, Islamists are gaining the popular vote. Far from threatening stability, this makes it a real possibility<br /><br />•<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/29/middleeast-egypt"> طالع المقال بالعربية</a><p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/22/tunisia-election-winners-ennahda-ettakatol" title="The Guardian - Tunisia's election winners form interim government after uprising">Ennahda</a>, the Islamic party in Tunisia, won 41% of the seats of the Tunisian constitutional assembly last month, causing consternation in the west. But Ennahda will not be an exception on the Arab scene. Last Friday the Islamic Justice and Development Party took the biggest share of the vote in Morocco and will lead the new coalition government for the first time in history. And tomorrow <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/nov/27/egypt-middleeast?newsfeed=true" title="The Guardian - Egyptian elections: live updates">Egypt's elections</a> begin, with the Muslim Brotherhood predicted to become the largest party. There may be more to come. Should free and fair elections be held in Yemen, once the regime of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/24/yemen-ali-abdullah-saleh-resigns?newsfeed=true" title="The Guardian - Yemen's Ali Abdullah Saleh resigns but it changes little">Ali Abdullah Saleh</a> falls, the Yemeni Congregation for Reform, also Islamic, will win by a significant majority. This pattern will repeat itself whenever the democratic process takes its course.</p><p>In the west, this phenomenon has led to a debate about the &quot;problem&quot; of the rise of political Islam. In the Arab world, too, there has been mounting tension between Islamists and secularists, who feel anxious about Islamic groups. Many voices warn that the Arab spring will lead to an Islamic winter, and that the Islamists, though claiming to support democracy, will soon turn against it. In the west, stereotypical images that took root in the aftermath of 9/11 have come to the fore again. In the Arab world, a secular anti-democracy camp has emerged in both Tunisia and Egypt whose pretext for opposing democratisation is that the Islamists are likely to be the victors.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/27/islamist-arab-spring-west-fears">Continue reading...</a>EgyptTunisiaTunisian elections 2011MoroccoSyriaTurkeyMiddle East and North AfricaAfricaIslamWorld newsSun, 27 Nov 2011 19:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/nov/27/islamist-arab-spring-west-fearsGuardianIllustration by Andrzej KrauzeGuardianIllustration by Andrzej Krauze Photograph: GuardianWadah Khanfar2011-11-27T19:30:00ZLibya, Tunisia and Middle East unrest - Friday 28 October 2011http://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/28/libya-tunisia-middle-east-unrest
• <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/28/libya-tunisia-middle-east-unrest#block-11">Saif al-Islam in "indirect talks" with ICC</a><br />• <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/28/libya-tunisia-middle-east-unrest#block-6">Violence in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, over election results</a><br />• <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/28/libya-tunisia-middle-east-unrest#block-10">Syrian opposition holding protests for no-fly zone</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/28/libya-tunisia-middle-east-unrest#block-26#block-26">Read the latest summary</a><p><span class="timestamp">10.21am:</span> Welcome to Middle East Live. Unrest has returned to Sidi Bouzid, the cradle of the Tunisian uprising, and the Arab Spring itself, in response to the election results.</p><p>&quot;They have set fire to a large part of the mayor's office, and the police are nowhere to be seen,&quot; local resident Mehdi Horcheni told Reuters by telephone from the town. <br />He said elsewhere in the town, protesters set fire to an Ennahda campaign office and a training centre , while police used tear gas in a failed attempt to disperse the crowd.<br />Another witness, Hafed Abdulli, said the crowd was burning tyres in the streets. &quot;People are protesting against the cancellation of the Popular List,&quot; he said.</p><p><br />The support for the insurgents comes amid a broader Turkish campaign to undermine Mr. Assad's government. Turkey is expected to impose sanctions soon on Syria, and it has deepened its support for an umbrella political opposition group known as the Syrian National Council, which announced its formation in Istanbul. But its harboring of leaders in the Free Syrian Army, a militia composed of defectors from the Syrian armed forces, may be its most striking challenge so far to Damascus.</p><p>On Wednesday, the group, living in a heavily guarded refugee camp in Turkey, claimed responsibility for killing nine Syrian soldiers, including one uniformed officer, in an attack in restive central Syria ...</p><p><br />Our doors and hearts are open to all. We are the supporters of freedom and tolerance.</p><p>Troops fired into the air on Friday to disperse a crowd trying to attack government offices in the town where the &quot;Arab Spring&quot; uprising began ...</p><p>Two witnesses in Sidi Bouzid told Reuters that a large crowd was trying to attack the local government headquarters in the town early on Friday.</p><p>AJA via activists: 11 killed by security shooting 9 in #Hama &amp; 2 in #Homs #NFZ4Syria</p><p>Through intermediaries, we have informal contact with Saif. The office of the prosecutor has made it clear that if he surrenders to the ICC, he has the right to be heard in court, he is innocent until proven guilty. The judges will decide.</p><p>Additionally, we have learnt through informal channels that there is a group of mercenaries who are offering to move Saif to an African (country) not party to the Rome Statute of the ICC. The office of the prosecutor is also exploring the possibility to intercept any plane<br />within the air space of a state party in order to make an arrest.</p><p>They are informal conversations. I think they are exploring the possibility to appear before the court. We offer to them, of course we can help you to surrender to the court, and if he considers himself innocent he has the right to present this argument before the judges.</p><p>I cannot give you details, it's informal there's another one [warrant] pending he knows that, he had to make a decision, if he considers himself innocent he will be respected here by the court ...</p><p>We don't make deals we have another warrant pending, so for us it is a matter of him surrendering to the court with a right to prove his innocence and after that the right to decide where to go or what happens with him. We believe we have a strong case we believe he should be convicted. So the conversation is about how to appear before the judges and how we present the evidence but we cannot offer any deal ...<br /> <br />It's not clear where he is, because if he's in Libya he can surrender to the government in Libya, if he's in a different country he can surrender to the countries who are a member of the treaty easily, so Niger, Tunisia are members of the treaty ...<br /> <br />The logistics will be solved, it is a matter of his decision. If he wants to present before the court, and present why he is innocent he can do it.</p><p>&quot;God, Syria, We want a no-fly zone over it,&quot; shouted protesters in the Bab Tadmur neighborhood of Homs.</p><p>&quot;A no-fly zone is a legitimate demand for Homs,&quot; read banners carried by protesters in the Khalidya neighborhood.</p><p>They've burnt everything and have all gone home, nothing else to do</p><p>The Protest in #SidiBouzid just ended - people left on their own #Tunelec #Tnelec #Tunisia</p><p>When we consider which laws have been de facto annulled and changed for religious ones, we see that these are laws that directly affect the rights of women in marriage, divorce, guardianship, polygamy, inheritance, etc. i.e. family codes or laws of personal status. Women are directly targeted by this change in laws and will lose many acquired rights in the process.</p><p>We denounce the loose use of the term 'sharia' to give a false religious legitimacy to patriarchal interpretations of religion, as well as to patriarchal traditions.</p><p><br />An-Nahda reaffirms its commitment to the women of Tunisia, to strengthen their role in political decision-making, in order to avoid any going back on their social gains.</p><p>Essam Ali Atta, a civilian serving a two-year jail term in Cairo's high-security Tora prison following his conviction in a military tribunal earlier this year for an apparently &quot;common crime&quot;, was reportedly attacked by prison guards after trying to smuggle a mobile phone sim card into his cell.</p><p><br />The leader of Arrida Ach-Chaabia, Mohamed Hechim Hamdi, a wealthy London-based businessman, has a sketchy past. Once a member of An-Nahda, he had a fallout with its leadership and then flirted with the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. He ran a populist campaign in the poor and forgotten periphery of Tunisia, promising handouts and subsidies without explaining how he would pay for them. Worse, he used his London-based TV station for campaigning outside the rules set by the electoral commission that constrained other Tunisian parties. Many Tunisians suspect him of having made arrangements with remnants of Ben Ali's party. His success demonstrates the depth of economic and social discontent outside the urban areas. It also shows how important outreach to voters was.</p><p>How Hamdi decides to proceed will matter a lot. He has called on Arrida candidates not to take their seats in the new assembly. While he does not command enough seats to block the process of constitution-drafting, he can cast doubts over the legitimacy of the exercise and stir popular anger. Many of those who voted for him didn't necessarily do it out of love or blind support. But if they feel that their vote has been annulled by condescending elites in Tunis, there is a risk that they will embrace Hamdi as a populist hero who can mount a significant challenge to the system and the transition ...</p><p><br />Activist Omar al-Jablawi told Al-Jazeera television that the man, identified as Abu Fadi, burned himself in the city of Jableh to prevent the police from forcing him into revealing the location of his activist son Fadi.</p><p>&quot;Abu Fadi was threatened… and so was his other son Abdel Hadi… but [none] gave the security forces the information they wanted,&quot; Jablawi said.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/28/libya-tunisia-middle-east-unrest">Continue reading...</a>Middle East and North AfricaArab and Middle East unrestLibyaTunisiaMuammar GaddafiSaif al-Islam GaddafiSyriaBashar al-AssadYemenTunisian elections 2011EgyptWorld newsInternational criminal courtInternational criminal justiceFri, 28 Oct 2011 16:27:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/28/libya-tunisia-middle-east-unrestAFPSaif al-Islam Gaddafi Photograph: AFPZoubeir Souissi/ReutersA Tunisian woman walks past posters of the election campaign in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. Photograph: Zoubeir Souissi/ReutersHaroon Siddique2011-10-28T16:27:00ZTunisia elections 2011 - in pictureshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2011/oct/28/tunisian-elections-2011-in-pictures
Once-banned Islamist party An-Nahda named as the official victor in Tunisia's first free elections <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2011/oct/28/tunisian-elections-2011-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>Tunisian elections 2011TunisiaWorld newsFri, 28 Oct 2011 10:45:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2011/oct/28/tunisian-elections-2011-in-picturesZohra Bensemra/Reuters27 October: Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the Islamist Ennahda movement. Photograph: Zohra Bensemra/ReutersGuardian Staff2011-10-28T10:45:09ZRachid Ghannouchi's party triumphs in Tunisian elections - videohttp://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/oct/28/rachid-ghannouchi-an-nahda-tunisia-video
Moderate Islamist party An-Nahda, banned before the revolution that ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, has won 90 of the 217 seats and has emerged as the official victor in the country's first free elections <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/oct/28/rachid-ghannouchi-an-nahda-tunisia-video">Continue reading...</a>TunisiaTunisian elections 2011World newsAfricaZine al-Abidine Ben AliFri, 28 Oct 2011 09:12:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/oct/28/rachid-ghannouchi-an-nahda-tunisia-videoZohra Bensemra/REUTERSRached Ghannouchi (R), leader of the Islamist Ennahda movement, smiles as he meets his supporters after the announcement of the country's election results, outside his headquarters in Tunis October 27, 2011. Tunisian election officials on Thursday confirmed the Islamist Ennahda party as winner of the North African country's election, setting it up to form the first Islamist-led government in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings. Photograph: Zohra Bensemra/REUTERSGuardian Staff2011-10-28T09:12:00ZLibya, Syria and Middle East unrest - Thursday 27 October 2011http://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/27/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live
• <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/27/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live?INTCMP=SRCH#block-17">Nato operation in Libya to end on October 31</a><br />• <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/27/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live?INTCMP=SRCH#block-15">Saif al-Islam headed to Mali - Niger official</a><br />• <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/27/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live?INTCMP=SRCH#block-16">Gaddafi killers 'to be put on trial'</a><br />• <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/27/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live?INTCMP=SRCH#block-11">Arab spring activists honoured by European parliament</a><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/27/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live?commentpage=all#start-of-comments#block-25"><br /><br />Read the latest summary</a><p><span class="timestamp">8.34am:</span> Welcome to Middle East Live. Here's a run down of the main developments:</p><p>Estimates of the numbers of dead over the last eight months – as Nato leaders vetoed ceasefires and negotiations – range from 10,000 up to 50,000. The National Transitional Council puts the losses at 30,000 dead and 50,000 wounded. Of those, uncounted thousands will be civilians, including those killed by Nato bombing and Nato-backed forces on the ground. These figures dwarf the death tolls in this year's other most bloody Arab uprisings, in Syria and Yemen. Nato has not protected civilians in Libya – it has multiplied the number of their deaths, while losing not a single soldier of its own.</p><p>The only ingredients lacking are battlefield skirmishes and a discrete insurgent guerilla force, though there are now flickers indicating that such a force is gradually being formed, especially through deserters from the military. Still, I wouldn't say that the conflict has quite risen to the level of civil war, since most deaths have occurred in the course of the repression of demonstrations by non-combatant civilians.</p><p><br />We demand the immediate disclosure of the fate of our friend and fellow blogger Hussein Ghrer and the release of all prisoners of conscience, since their detention is against the law and universal human rights. We also demand the end of persecution against freedom of speech, because blind force, no matter how strong it is, will stay blind, and will stumble until it falls for good.</p><p>The NTC source said Islam had not left Libya and was being sheltered by a prominent figure among the nomadic Tuareg people of the desert, whom he had supported financially in the past. The rugged and empty area close to the borders of Niger and Algeria has offered an escape route to others in his family. However, under ICC indictment, Islam would find it harder than his relatives to secure a safe haven abroad.</p><p>He was reported by an aide to be fearing for his life when he fled Bani Walid, and if he has seen the gruesome video footage of his father's capture, he is likely to be under few illusions about how he might be treated if he remains in Libya.</p><p>There are terms of communication [with the NTC] through which we are trying to confirm the information.</p><p>&quot;The court ruled to free him from prison,&quot; Mabrouk Korchid said. Confirming the report, a judicial source said al-Mahmoudi was now a free man.</p><p>Mahmoudi fled Libya to neighbouring Tunisia soon after the rule of Muammar Gaddafi collapsed in August and had gone on hunger strike in protest against his possible extradition.</p><p>The South Africans were hired by a company with close ties to Gaddafi, training his presidential guard and handling some of his offshore financial dealings, the Afrikaans-language paper said.</p><p>South Africans have also reportedly been involved in transporting Gadhafi's gold, diamonds and foreign currency to Niger, and helping his wife and three of children flee Tripoli, the paper said.</p><p>With regards to Gaddafi, we do not wait for anybody to tell us. We had already launched an investigation. We have issued a code of ethics in handling of prisoners of war. I am sure that was an individual act and not an act of revolutionaries or the national army. Whoever is responsible for that (Gaddafi's killing) will be judged and given a fair trial.</p><p><br />Egypt arrested Ilan Grapel (pictured), 27, in June, setting off new concerns that Egypt-Israel relations would sour after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.</p><p>Under the swap deal, Grapel is to fly from Cairo to Israel later Thursday.</p><p>He said the troops began planting the mines at dawn in an area facing two Lebanese villages - Knaysseh and Al-Hnayder.</p><p>&quot;A number of Syrian soldiers were also seen deploying on their side of the border, near the Syrian villages of Heet and Buwayt,&quot; he said, speaking on condition of anonymity.</p><p>Government security forces continue to attack residential areas in Taiz, according to residents.<br /> <br />The attacks continued for more than four hours Thursday morning and medics said that at least seven were injured by the raids.<br /> <br />Tens of thousands of pro democracy youth crowded the southern city of Taiz as protesters continue to demand Saleh's departure.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/27/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live">Continue reading...</a>Arab and Middle East unrestLibyaMuammar GaddafiSyriaBashar al-AssadEgyptTunisiaMiddle East and North AfricaTunisian elections 2011YemenWorld newsNatoUS foreign policyThu, 27 Oct 2011 16:55:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/27/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-liveSergei Karpukhin/REUTERSSaif al-Islam Gaddafi is reported to be proposing to hand himself in. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/ReutersSergei Karpukhin/REUTERSSaif al-Islam Gaddafi, whose former academic advisor professor David Helm remembers a young student committed to liberal values and democratic standards. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/REUTERSMatthew Weaver and Haroon Siddique2011-10-27T16:55:00ZLibya, Syria and Middle East unrest - Wednesday 26 October 2011http://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/26/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live
• Jalil asked Nato to extend Libya mission <br />• Gaddafi loyalists found executed at mass grave in Sirte<br />• Opposition stages general strike in Syria <br />• Latest truce in Yemen fails to halt violence<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/26/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live#block-16">• Read the latest summary</a><p><span class="timestamp">5.58pm:</span> Here's a summary of today's developments:</p><p>Everything was exploding. The revolutionaries were coming for us. He wasn't scared, but he didn't seem to know what to do. It was the only time I ever saw him like that.</p><p>He was strange. He was always standing still and looking to the west. I didn't see fear in him. I was with him for 30 years and I swear by God that I never saw any bad behaviour in him. He was always just the boss. He treated me well.</p><p>Look, they killed nearly the entire Gaddafi family. They showed his corpse on all the international channels. It's impossible to watch without disgust. What is this? And they show how the whole person is covered in blood, wounded, still alive and they kill him. And all this is shown on the screens.</p><p>We don't have confirmation about this now. We are trying to contact the NTC for more information,&quot; ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said.</p><p>Earlier on Wednesday, a senior Libyan military official with the National Transitional Council said Saif and al-Senussi are proposing to hand themselves in to the Hague-based court.</p><p>We have not given out such a precise number. We don't deny the figure, and it doesn't seem wrong or far fetched. We just can't confirm it. And we can't comment on the circumstances of their deaths. </p><p>We have been working in Sirte and we have seen a number of dead bodies, but estimates of the numbers are difficult to provide. I can't confirm these figure, but there have been a significant number of dead bodies in Sirte.</p><p>In the capital Sana'a, the women spread a black cloth across a main street and threw their full-body veils, known as makrama, onto a pile, sprayed it with oil and set it ablaze. As the flames rose, they chanted: &quot;Who protects Yemeni women from the crimes of the thugs?&quot;</p><p>As they burned their veils, Yemeni women activists handed out leaflets appealing for help and protection.</p><p>&quot;What was going through my head was &quot;How long do I have to sit here and how quickly can I get out of here?&quot; You know, it was funny because when he said, &quot;I have a video for you,&quot; I thought, &quot;Oh my goodness, what is this going to be?&quot; But it was actually just a bunch of pictures of me with Vladimir Putin, me with Hu Jin Tao. And then he said, &quot;I have Libya's best composer, most famous composer write this song for you,&quot; and it was called Black Flower in the White House ... And I thought, 'Well this is a really, really strange, strange moment in my time as secretary of state.</p><p>I don't think we ever got very close to him. I think what we did was to eliminate his weapons of mass destruction, or the most dangerous ones.</p><p>People got same sentence for breaking curfew. RT @adamakary: <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/mosaaberizing/status/129191140011409409">Two policemen accused of killing Khaled Saed have been sentenced to 7 years</a>.</p><p>The late Iraqi leader insisted there could be no clemency for Bazoft, whom he described – wrongly – as a &quot;an Israeli spy working for the British&quot;.</p><p>Hussein also grumbled over the length of time it would take to have Bazoft hanged. &quot;A whole month!&quot; he exclaimed to an aide, after being told the sentence could not be carried out immediately. &quot;I say we execute him in Ramadan, and this will be punishment for Margaret Thatcher.&quot;</p><p><br />Residents said they heard shots ring out across the city, which opposition groups blamed on security forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh, while the government blamed renegade general Ali Mohsen's forces.</p><p>&quot;The militants of Ali Mohsen ... shelled the Old City of Sana'a. One of the shells came down on a house, killing two people and injuring three others,&quot; a government source said.</p><p><br />Jordan's King Abdullah says he will consult parliament on the appointment of ministers, giving elected lawmakers a greater say in government.</p><p>The change, which will be enacted next year, is significant because it allows the elected 120-seat parliament to consult with the king on the mak-eup of government.</p><p><br />&quot;We were among them and the numbers of Qataris on ground were hundreds in every region,&quot; said Qatari chief of staff Major General Hamad bin Ali al-Atiya.</p><p>The announcement marks the first time that Qatar has acknowledged it had military boots on the ground in Libya.</p><p>In the near term, such spending measures are appropriate to lessen the impact of the downturn. But from an efficiency and equity standpoint, it is better for governments to gradually replace universal subsidies with targeted social safety nets, the IMF report states. Resources can then be used for critical investments in infrastructure and education and for supporting much-needed reforms.</p><p>Meeting the rising demands of the population will not be easy, the report notes—particularly as most countries have already used their fiscal and international reserve buffers to respond to deteriorating economic conditions in the wake of the Arab Spring, and have much less room left to respond to future shocks.</p><p>They'd manufactured the end of the cable to become like a proper handle and the cable was so solid that it had formed its arc and the arc as it hit someone's back. It was so heavy, it was so awful, it must have broken bones and the howling, the noise of a human being hit with that is something that just, you know, you shiver and shake. You hear a sound that you've never heard before, I've never heard before. And I've seen people dead. And I've seen people dying. But this sound, hearing a man cry, is just like, awful, there's nothing to compare it with.</p><p>&quot;We look forward to Nato continuing its operations until the end of the year,&quot; Jalil told reporters, adding that stopping the flight of Gaddafi supporters to other countries was a priority.</p><p>&quot;We seek technical and logistics help from neighbouring and friendly countries,&quot; Jalil added.</p><p><br />If the Arab League's initiative is going to have any chance of success, it needs to guarantee that civilians will be protected. The only way to make sure civilians are protected is to have on-the-ground monitors whose presence would inhibit abuse by the security services.</p><p>&quot;I didn't feel anything when I was washing him,&quot; said Tantoush. &quot;I was just doing my duty as a Muslim. He was a person and he should be properly buried.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Liar,&quot; muttered one of his jailers, Haithem Danduna, at Tantoush. &quot;He is a chameleon,&quot; he added, pointing at Tantoush. &quot;He was green until a week ago,&quot; in reference to the colour of the regime.</p><p>I cooked them a traditional roast dinner and we played with the baby. Moussa was very hands-on, changing nappies and rocking the baby to sleep. Perhaps more surprisingly, we toasted the Tunisian uprising over several glasses of good red wine, to which Moussa was always extremely partial.</p><p>The key issue in the next few days is what jobs the Islamists take in a coalition government. There will likely be an Islamist prime minister, with a secular, centrist interim president. But the new government will inherit a depressed economy, struggling tourism sector, regional inequality between the coast and poor rural interior and crippling unemployment – a root cause of the revolution. It is officially at 19% but thought to be much higher, and over 40% for female graduates.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/26/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-live">Continue reading...</a>LibyaMuammar GaddafiSyriaBashar al-AssadYemenEgyptTunisiaTunisian elections 2011World newsArab and Middle East unrestMiddle East and North AfricaNatoUS foreign policyWed, 26 Oct 2011 16:58:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/26/libya-syria-middle-east-unrest-liveZoubeir Souissi/ReutersSupporters of Tunisia's An-Nahda party celebrate success in the country's first free election Photograph: Zoubeir Souissi/ReutersZoubeir Souissi/ReutersSupporters of Tunisia's An-Nahda party celebrate success in the country's first free election Photograph: Zoubeir Souissi/ReutersMatthew Weaver and Haroon Siddique2011-10-26T16:58:00ZTunisian elections: full resultshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2011/oct/26/tunisian-elections-2011-results
Follow the latest results in the first election of the Arab spring, as they come in. An-Nahda, the moderate Islamist party has already claimed victory on the basis of unofficial results. It says it will go into coalition with Ettakatol, a centre-left party and CPR, centrist secularists. PDP, a liberal secularist party, have conceded defeat. The surprise has been Aridha, a party whose main support is in the rural interior <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2011/oct/26/tunisian-elections-2011-results">Continue reading...</a>Tunisian elections 2011TunisiaWorld newsWed, 26 Oct 2011 10:27:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2011/oct/26/tunisian-elections-2011-resultsLouafi Larbi/ReutersTunisian election officials count votes at a polling station Photograph: Louafi Larbi/ReutersChris Fenn and Sean Clarke2011-10-26T10:27:00ZTunisia elections winner: 'We're hardly the Freemasons, we're a modern party'http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/25/tunisia-elections-islamist-party-winner
Leader of the Islamist party An-Nahda, Rachid Ghannouchi, returns from 22 years of exile and wins around 40% of votes<p>Sitting on a plush sofa in his vast office, flanked by the flags of Tunisia and his Islamist party, Rachid Ghannouchi, known by followers as the Sheikh, is avuncular and professorial.</p><p>An unremarkable-looking man of 70 with silvery hair, wearing an ordinary grey suit, an open-necked white shirt and with a shy, toothy smile, he is an astute politician with a formidable party machine. Months after he returned from 22 years of exile in the UK, the victory of Ghannouchi's An-Nahda party in Tunisia's first free elections is a political earthquake in the midst of the Arab spring.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/25/tunisia-elections-islamist-party-winner">Continue reading...</a>Tunisian elections 2011TunisiaAfricaWorld newsTue, 25 Oct 2011 19:44:07 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/25/tunisia-elections-islamist-party-winnerAmine Landoulsi/APTunisia elections winner Rachid Ghannouchi, whose Islamist An-Nahda party won an estimated 40% of the vote. Photograph: Amine Landoulsi/APAmine Landoulsi/APTunisia elections winner Rachid Ghannouchi, whose Islamist An-Nahda party won an estimated 40% of the vote. Photograph: Amine Landoulsi/APAngelique Chrisafis in Tunis and Ian Black2011-10-25T19:44:07ZTunisia elections results indicate that Islamist party has won the most seatshttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/25/tunisia-elections-indicate-islamist-winner
Partial results from home and abroad suggest An-Nahda has won 24 out of 57 assembly seats so far, or just over 42% of total<p>An-Nahda will win the largest number of seats in the Tunisian election, according to partial results.</p><p>The electoral commission said the party had won 15 out of 39 domestic seats so far in a 217-member assembly meant to write a new constitution.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/25/tunisia-elections-indicate-islamist-winner">Continue reading...</a>Tunisian elections 2011TunisiaAfricaWorld newsTue, 25 Oct 2011 19:17:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/25/tunisia-elections-indicate-islamist-winnerAmine Landoulsi/APTunisia elections results suggest An-Nahda will lead the assembly, prompting these celebrations at party headquarters in Tunis. Photograph: Amine Landoulsi/APAmine Landoulsi/APTunisia elections results suggest An-Nahda will lead the assembly, prompting these celebrations at party headquarters in Tunis. Photograph: Amine Landoulsi/APAngelique Chrisafis in Tunis2011-10-25T19:17:42ZTunisia elections: 'The winner is democracy' - videohttp://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/oct/25/tunisia-elections-democratic
Alejandro Toledo, the former president of Peru and official election observer, congratulates Tunisians on the conduct of their first elections <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/oct/25/tunisia-elections-democratic">Continue reading...</a>Tunisian elections 2011TunisiaWorld newsAfricaTue, 25 Oct 2011 18:49:35 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/oct/25/tunisia-elections-democraticReuters/ReutersAlejandro Toledo, the former president of Peru and official Tunisian election observer. Photograph: ReutersGuardian Staff2011-10-25T18:49:35ZTunisia's clean election leads the way | Jonathan Steelehttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/25/tunisia-election-middle-east
The country's big challenge is to draw up a constitution that safeguards the political freedoms the uprising demanded<p>Having <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/28/tunisia-ben-ali" title="Guardian: How a man setting fire to himself sparked an uprising in Tunisia">launched what became known as the Arab spring</a>, Tunisia has now led the region by holding a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/24/tunisia-elections-an-nahda" title="Guardian: Tunisia elections: An-Nahda party on course to win">clean election</a> with an enthusiastic turnout and highly encouraging results. The three parties that have come out on top in the most democratic of north African states have no links with the capital city's upper middle class or those sections of the business community that benefited from the ousted <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/14/tunisian-president-flees-country-protests" title="">Ben Ali dictatorship</a>. They both have a tradition of struggling for democratic values.</p><p>As in <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/11/hosni-mubarak-resigns-egypt-cairo?intcmp=239" title="Guardian: Hosni Mubarak resigns and Egypt celebrates a new dawn">post-Mubarak Egypt</a>, there was reason to fear that the old regime would re-emerge in Tunisia with new faces, but this now seems unlikely. The party that has emerged from the poll most strongly is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12611609" title="BBC News: Tunisia legalises Islamist group Ennahda">An-Nahda</a> (Renaissance), which suffered massive repression under Ben Ali and has won great respect for its sacrifices. This party of modern democratic Islam campaigned hard on the two issues that concern most Tunisians: corruption and unemployment, particularly youth unemployment.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/25/tunisia-election-middle-east">Continue reading...</a>Tunisian elections 2011TunisiaArab and Middle East unrestAfricaWorld newsMiddle East and North AfricaTue, 25 Oct 2011 16:40:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/oct/25/tunisia-election-middle-eastStr/EPASupporters of the An-Nahda party, which gained most votes in the Tunisian election. Photograph: Str/EPAStr/EPASupporters of the Ennahda party, which gained most votes in the Tunisian election. Photograph: Str/EPAJonathan Steele2011-10-25T16:40:42ZGaddafi's burial and Tunisian election results -Tuesday 25 October 2011http://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/25/gaddafi-burial-live-updates
• Muammar Gaddafi buried in a secret desert grave<br />• Saif 'fleeing towards Niger'<br />• An-Nahda declares victory in Tunisian elections<br />• <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/25/gaddafi-burial-live-updates#block-28">Click here for a summary of today's key events</a><p><span class="timestamp">8.30am:</span> Welcome to Middle East Live on a hugely symbolic day in North Africa. Muammar Gaddafi is reported to have been buried, while across the border in Tunisia election results are due to be declared. Here's a round-up of the latest developments across the region. </p><p>In many cases hospital staff appear to have taken part in torture and ill treatment of the very people they are supposed to care for. Given the scale and seriousness of the injuries being sustained by people across the country, it is disturbing to find that many consider it safer to risk not having major wounds treated rather than going to proper medical facilities.</p><p>Many Jordanians believe Khasawneh represents the best chance since the Arab Spring began for Jordan to achieve meaningful reform. With his legal talents and lack of political entanglements, many hope that he will be able to bridge the kingdom's deep political divides and tackle the corruption that is pervasive throughout the Jordanian government.</p><p>A Misrata military council official says Muammar Gaddafi, his son Mutassim and a top aide have been buried in a secret location, with a few relatives and officials in attendance.</p><p>In a text message spokesman Ibrahim Beitalmal is quoted as saying the burial took place at 5am Tuesday, and that Islamic prayers were read over the bodies. The information could not be independently verified.</p><p><a href="http://twitter.com/katebt3000/statuses/128743053933551616">Guma Al Gamaty of NTC has confirmed to #BBC that #Gaddafi, son Muatassim &amp; top aide were buried at dawn</a> in an unknown location #libya</p><p>More than 50 people were killed when two fuel tanks exploded in the Libyan city of Sirte on Monday, local residents said.</p><p>The explosion was caused by a short circuit, they said, and happened at midday on Monday. The two tanks were still on fire after dark.</p><p>Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should realise that keeping Ford in Damascus and safe is his best option for keeping a line open to Obama. By allowing or perhaps fostering threats to the US ambassador, he has cut himself off from any dialogue with Washington. It is Senator McCain's warmongering that has filled that vacuum.</p><p>McCain is wrong that western military intervention is plausible in Syria. There has been no Arab League resolution calling for it, and no UN security council resolution (action is being blocked by Russia and China). Most Syrian protesters themselves have opposed foreign intervention. There is no framework of international legality or legitimacy that would permit an outside intervention. Additionally, Syria's geography is diverse and often rugged, and no attempt at intervention would be simple, tactically or logistically.</p><p>The hypocrisy of it all is too glaring. Homs city is being bombed to smithereens under our very eyes, and the world that was willing to bleed in pain for a Benghazi that has not yet been attacked is admonishing patience and dialogue, as attempts at self-defence by locals get depicted as morally compromising. This has to remain a peaceful protest, we are told, so the revolution can retain its moral superiority. No one admonished the Libyans to do that and no one described their revolution as immoral even though it turned violent within days of its start. And the world rushed in to save Libya and the Libyans, even before the death toll reached 100. </p><p>We hope that all sides in Syria can put the interests of the country and people first, discard violence, avoid bloodshed and clashes, and resolve differences via dialogue in a peaceful way. We believe that Syria's government should proactively fulfil its promises of reform, and answer the people's reasonable demands.</p><p>He's on the triangle of Niger and Algeria. He's south of Ghat, the Ghat area. He was given a false Libyan passport from the area of Murzuq.</p><p>The region is very, very difficult to monitor and encircle. The region is a desert region and it has ... many, many exit routes.</p><p>There's a palpable change in the border area since the heady, bustling days this summer when the sleepy village of Guvecci was inundated with refugees. Activists who swaggered around town have now moved deeper into Turkey, into the city of Antakya, where they keep a low profile. Gone are the days of illegally trekking across the Turkish border into Syria unimpeded by the security forces of either country, and of the hopeful optimism that the Damascus regime would soon fall. It's all been replaced with a sharp fear that Assad's reach extends well beyond his borders.</p><p>There will be considerable effort to try to keep the location and circumstance [of the burial] as secret as possible. Whether that works, or course, is another question ... The whole spirit of the country is to move on.</p><p>A softly spoken scholar, he dresses in suits and open-necked shirts while his wife and daughter wear the hijab. </p><p>Ghannouchi is at pains to stress his party will not enforce any code of morality on Tunisian society, or the millions of Western tourists who holiday on its beaches. He models his approach on the moderate Islamism of Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan. </p><p><a href="http://www.lapresse.tn/25102011/dans-lere-de-la-democratie.html">La Presse appears to adopt</a> the most sympathetic stance towards the party, pointing out that Rachid Ghannouchi's moderate Islamists have been &quot;chosen democratically in a transparent system which bestows upon them all legitimacy.&quot; But there are challenges ahead, it says, one of which is to &quot;definitively wring the neck of the prejudices harboured against them by broad swathes of opinion - those who accuse them of disregarding cultural and political minorities' right to freedom of expression.&quot;</p><p>His body was displayed as a trophy of war, in conduct that violates the most elementary principles of Islamic rules and other religious beliefs prevailing in the world. </p><p>Rissa ag Boula, an adviser to Niger's president and an elected member of the regional council of Agadez, told AP that he was in touch with the ethnic Tuaregs who are helping guide Saif to possible sanctuary.</p><p>&quot;If he comes here, the government will accept him, but the government will also need to respect its international obligations. It's up to him to decide [whether to stay on the run or come to Niger],&quot; Boula said.</p><p>Some will worry that a moderate Islamist party [An-Nahda] apparently won a plurality of votes, perhaps as many as 40%. It is not surprising when a revolution that deposed an avowed secularist leads to an Islamist win. Get used to it. It is likely to happen in Egypt and Libya as well. The key here is the process, not the result. The official count has not yet been tallied, but An-Nahda claims to have done its own tally based on counts posted at polling stations. That is a credit both to An-Nahda's organisation and to the transparency of the electoral process. The opposition is accepting the results.</p><p>Imprisoned Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad appears to have been transferred against his will to a mental hospital, according to worrying reports emerging from Cairo. Sanad, who was sentenced to three years in jail back in March for writing a critical blog post about Egypt's ruling junta, has now been on hunger strike for over 60 days and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/18/jailed-egypt-blogger-hungerstrike">last week refused to participate in a new military tribunal against him</a>.</p><p>Tirana Hassan, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, said she spoke on Monday to a 30-year-old Sirte resident who had travelled in the convoy that tried to smuggle Gaddafi out of Sirte.</p><p>Hassan quoted the woman as saying that Gaddafi did not sustain serious injuries during the Nato strike on the convoy.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/25/gaddafi-burial-live-updates">Continue reading...</a>Middle East and North AfricaArab and Middle East unrestLibyaMuammar GaddafiTunisian elections 2011SyriaBashar al-AssadYemenEgyptNatoWorld newsTunisiaJordanTue, 25 Oct 2011 15:11:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/25/gaddafi-burial-live-updatesThaier Al-Sudani/ReutersAn anti-Gaddafi fighter takes a photograph with his mobile phone inside the storage freezer where the body of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was displayed in Misrata until today. Photograph: Thaier Al-Sudani/ReutersThaier Al-Sudani/ReutersAn anti-Gaddafi fighter takes a photograph with his mobile phone inside the storage freezer where the body of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was displayed in Misrata, on 25 October 2011. Photograph: Thaier Al-Sudani/ReutersMatthew Weaver and Paul Owen2011-10-25T15:11:00ZTunisian elections 2011: Intissar Ghannouchi interview - videohttp://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/oct/25/intissar-ghannouchi-tunisian-elections-2011-video
The daughter of Rachid Ghannouchi talks about the atmosphere around voting in Tunisia's first free elections and waiting for the results <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/oct/25/intissar-ghannouchi-tunisian-elections-2011-video">Continue reading...</a>Tunisian elections 2011TunisiaWorld newsTue, 25 Oct 2011 11:50:11 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/oct/25/intissar-ghannouchi-tunisian-elections-2011-videoguardian.co.uk/guardian.co.ukIntissar Ghannouchi
Photograph: guardian.co.ukShehani Fernando2011-10-25T11:50:11ZTunisian elections live blog – Monday 24 October 2011http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/24/tunisian-elections-2011-live
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/24/tunisia-elections-an-nahda">• Moderate Islamist party tipped for historic win</a><br />• Main secular party concedes it will be in opposition<br />• World praises peaceful vote as example for region <br />• <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/24/tunisian-elections-2011-live#block-23">Read the latest summary here</a><p><span class="timestamp">10.36pm:</span> We've reached the end of Tunisia's E-Day+1, and will leave you with this summary of the key developments:</p><p>• <strong>With counting still underway for Tunisia's domestic constituencies, results from overseas voting points towards a strong showing by the Islamist party An-Nahda.</strong> Rachid Ghannouchi's once-banned grouping won half of the seats available abroad. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/24/tunisian-elections-2011-live#block-17">(See 7.09pm.)</a> The ISIE election body said the results were still &quot;partial&quot; because polling station reports listing objections to the voting process had not yet been received. <a href="said it had taken the biggest share of the vote based on early predictions before the official results expected .">An-Nahda also said it had taken the biggest share of the domestic vote </a>based on early predictions before the official results expected.</p><p>The type who likes to talk and give interviews and to address his fans on his own TV network...[Standing for election was] not his first surprise or joke.</p><p><br />There is a huge number of people who believe in this programme.</p><p></p><p><br />There is no way of arguing the legitimacy of the outcome, absolutely not, even if there is disappointment. We call on the principal political actors to recognize the results of the elections and to quickly begin the work of the National Constituent Assembly.</p><p>Voters who missed the Aug. 14 registration deadline were told that they could vote at one of more than 900 special polling centers set up around the country. Many of the special centers were not prepared for the influx of voters and an SMS system created to tell unregistered voters where to vote crashed early in the day but was restored later.</p><p>This is their way to punish the other parties who couldn't give them an alternative vision maybe.</p><p><br />President Obama congratulates Tunisian People on Election. Mr Obama...do you know hachimi hamdi?? :'(( #tnelec</p><p>The trend is very clear. The PDP has done badly. It was the choice of the Tunisian people, and I bow to their decision. I congratulate those who have won the approval of the Tunisian people.&quot;</p><p><br />France welcomes the smooth progress of the first free elections in Tunisia, whose revolution opened the way to the 'Arab Spring'. Tunisia is thus confirming its pioneering role.</p><p>Ever a partner of Tunisia, France is at its sides more than ever during these days of legitimate national pride. </p><p><br />The Tunisian is a revolutionary on Facebook, but when he is with the family of his wife or his fianc&eacute;e he's with An-Nahda. When he's with his girlfriend he becomes a supporter of the Communist party; when he's after some cash he gets behind the UPL...when he's hungry he leans towards the PDP; when he wants to party he's with Afek; when he's spoiling for a fight he transforms into an Etttakatol member.</p><p><br />Voter turnout will be the most important figure to watch for. Obviously, it will be the key indicator of the level of public endorsement for this transition itinerary, begun by Khayr al-Din, a former Tunisian prime minister, in the 1850s.</p><p>It is the only majority that matters in this vote. Abstention or low voter turnout by the excluded and the people of the country's south and the centre may not bode well for democratic transition. This silent majority, disenfranchised since independence in 1956, rebelled against the entire political system in 2011. Its absence may mean it is not ready to surrender the revolution to formal political processes. By contrast, high voter turnout would convey exactly the opposite meaning.</p><p><br />This district is known as the &quot;iron district&quot;, and others have dubbed it the &quot;death district&quot;. Six prominent candidates....contest from this district. How Tunisians vote in this district will be a microcosm of the polity that will emerge after the elections.</p><p><br />This success will only be complete once the results have been declared and the verdict of the ballot box has been accepted by everyone...That means that those who are not elected congratulate those who are and above all that they don't consider their unsuccessful first experience as a personal failure but as a victory for the whole of Tunisia, and all its political strands.</p><p><br />People succeeded in the voting. Will the elite succeed in the writing of the constitution?</p><p><br />I keenly await the day when I will be able to say with schadenfreude to those who voted An-Nahda: 'You deserve this- we warned you.'</p><p><br />Not good to wish the death of even your worst enemy. They have their place in a Tunisian democracy: that is DEMOCRACY.</p><p><br />'Democracy only works if it is accepted and shared by bad losers': Proverb.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/24/tunisian-elections-2011-live">Continue reading...</a>Tunisian elections 2011TunisiaWorld newsMiddle East and North AfricaArab and Middle East unrestMon, 24 Oct 2011 22:01:23 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/24/tunisian-elections-2011-liveguardian.co.ukguardian.co.ukLouafi Larbi/ReutersTunisian election officials count votes at a polling station Photograph: Louafi Larbi/ReutersLouafi Larbi/ReutersTunisian election officials count votes at a polling station Photograph: Louafi Larbi/ReutersLizzy Davies2011-10-24T22:01:23ZTunisia elections: An-Nahda party on course to winhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/24/tunisia-elections-an-nahda
Moderate Islamist party An-Nahda tipped for victory in Tunisia's first free elections nine months after people's revolution<p>The moderate Islamist party An-Nahda is tipped for a historic victory in Tunisia's first free elections, the first vote of the Arab spring.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/24/tunisia-elections-an-nahda">Continue reading...</a>TunisiaAfricaWorld newsTunisian elections 2011Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:22:56 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/24/tunisia-elections-an-nahdaZohra Bensemra/ReutersRiot police stand guard while a small group of Tunisians demonstrate against the Islamist An-Nahda. Photograph: Zohra Bensemra/ReutersAngelique Chrisafis, in Tunis2011-10-24T18:22:56Zالربيع العربي لن يزدهر إلا إذا أعطي الشباب سببا للأملhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/24/tunisian-elections-2011-tunisia
مثلما تدخّل الغرب للإطاحة بالطغاة, عليه الآن أن يواصل الاستثمار لمساعدة الدول المحرّرة على النموّ<p>توفي كلّ من &quot;أسامة بن لادن&quot; و &quot;معمر القذافي&quot;. تقف عائلة &quot;حسني مبارك&quot; خلف القضبان مع حسابات بنكية بملايين الدولار مجمّدة. في تونس,حكم على الرئيس &quot;زين العابدين بن علي&quot; غيابيا ب35 عاما من السجن. و ينتظر مجرم الحرب البوسني &quot; راتكو ملاديش&quot; ان تتمّ محاكمته في لاهاي. يمكننا أن نتوقف لحظة لندرك أن الأمور تسير بشكل مذهل..إزالة هذه الأسماء الخمس من الصورة لهي نعمة حقا.</p><p>أيّا كانت الشكوك الحائمة حول حقيقة مقتل &quot;القذافي&quot; و غياب محاكمة عادلة( إن لم يكن بإمكانك أن تحدد حتى مكان دفن رجل فالقاعدة الأفضل هي أن لا تقتله.), فان وفاة &quot;القذافي&quot; على تلك الشاكلة هي درس جيّد لأمثال الرئيس السوري &quot;بشار الأسد&quot; الذي يقوم بتعذيب المتظاهرين حتى الموت , و كل من رئيس اليمن&quot; علي عبدالله صالح&quot; و ملك البحرين &quot;حمد بن خليفة&quot; الذين هما غارقان في دماء مواطنيهما.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/24/tunisian-elections-2011-tunisia">Continue reading...</a>Tunisian elections 2011TunisiaMon, 24 Oct 2011 16:16:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/24/tunisian-elections-2011-tunisiaHenry Porter2011-10-24T16:16:00ZTunisia's voters go to the polls in Arab spring's first election - videohttp://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/oct/24/tunisia-arab-spring-election-video
People queue to vote as candidates from 110 political parties and scores of independents bid to join Tunisia's new 217-seat government. Turnout in the first free election in Tunisian history was thought to have been high. The Islamist An-Nahda party is expected to win the biggest share of the vote <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/oct/24/tunisia-arab-spring-election-video">Continue reading...</a>Tunisian elections 2011TunisiaArab and Middle East unrestAfricaWorld newsMon, 24 Oct 2011 13:47:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2011/oct/24/tunisia-arab-spring-election-videoShehani Fernando/guardian.co.ukPeople queue to vote as candidates from 110 political parties and scores of independents bid to join new 217-seat government Photograph: Shehani Fernando/guardian.co.ukShehani Fernando and Mona Mahmood2011-10-24T13:47:00ZTunisian elections: polling day as it happenedhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/23/tunisian-elections-2011-arab-and-middle-east-protests
• Polls close in Tunisia's first free election<br />• Turn-out "over 80%" in some areas<br />• Islamists expected to win the most votes<br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/24/tunisian-elections-2011-live">• Follow today's live coverage of the Tunisian elections here</a><p><span class="timestamp">7.32am:</span> Good morning, sabah al-khair and bonjour. Nine months after they took to the streets en masse and forced their president onto a plane to Saudi Arabia, Tunisians vote today in the first free election in their history and the first to have come from the tumult of the Arab Spring.</p><p>.</p><p><br />A 50-year-old woman called Samira was first in the queue: she said she had been up all night and couldn't sleep, so got here at 5.45am and waited. She would not say which party she was voting for, but said: &quot;This is the future of our country, the future of the next generation.&quot; </p><p>Samira, who works in a silver shop, said she had been at both protests in the Kasbah after the revolution and that a lot of people in her family were unemployed despite having degrees. </p><p><br />Great People of Tunisia : We Finally Voted ! Proud to be part of you #Emotion #Tunisia #Tnelec #TnGloryDays</p><p>Aujourd'hui je suis encore un peu plus fier et amoureux de mon pays et de mon peuple. #Tunisie #TnElec</p><p><br />Its founder, Rachid Ghannouchi, who was exiled in London for decades, describes the party as moderate, tolerant, pro-democracy and keen to protect Tunisian women's rights in a pluralist society. Pushing liberal and conservative policies, it has been likened to Turkey's Islamist-rooted ruling Justice and Development party (AKP).</p><p>Secular critics say the party is an unknown quantity and fear that, once elected, hardliners could seek to enforce a more fundamentalist Islam on Tunisia's secular, civil society. </p><p><br />Our martyrs are no longer here to share with us the incredible joy of our march to democracy. But their sacrifices will always remain engraved into the heart of the nation and the memories of those benefiting today from the supreme privilege of freely electing those worthy of their aspirations.</p><p>These elections are a moment of victory for my son who died defending dignity and liberty. Nothing would have happened if my son had not reacted against voicelessness and a lack of respect.</p><p>But I hope the people who are going to govern will be able to keep this message in mind and give consideration to all Tunisians, including the poor.</p><p><br />I am one of those people who have seen An-Nahda fight for years on end. They suffered the most [under Ben Ali]. I also think they are best positioned to give Tunisia back the Arabo-Islamic identity it has lost during the years of Ben Ali, Bourghiba and colonialism, too.</p><p>I am delighted. I am 60, and I had never voted before in my life in Tunis. I never wanted to take part in the masquerade where you knew even before it had started that one party would get 80 or 90% of the vote.</p><p>Smiling, he then took his place in the queue more than a kilometre from the entrance of the polling station. </p><p>He's setting an example; a lesson in civic-mindedness and humility. </p><p>I have never seen anything like it. The queues are extremely long. Everyone is being patient. My father-in-law, who is 90, is voting for the first time. I am happy. This is Tunisia's victory. We'll see who will win but that is of secondary importance compared to this mobilisation.</p><p><br />Teacher in ettadhamen: '9 months ago you cdn't even talk about politics in the street for fear of secret police. So proud to vote' </p><p>Cleaning lady in ettadhamen: 'before, every election here was fixed. Let's hope we can trust the politicians of tomorrow'</p><p><br />For the first time today, Tunisians are able to express their views at the polling booth in what I hope will be free and fair elections. It is inspiring that so many candidates are competing for the opportunity to draw up the country's new constitution. </p><p>This remarkable achievement reflects how far the Tunisian people have come since January when they rose up against their autocratic ruler to demand their right to freedom, dignity and a better future.</p><p><br />I'm walking on air! It's a dream for me. I look at Europe and I see a voting system and a way of living which I would like to see here.</p><p><br />People say to me, 'If you vote against An-Nahda, you're voting against your religion.' Our religion does affect our lifestyle a bit, but politically it's time now for there to be a separation.</p><p><br />4 hours of queuing in the sun, but I'VE VOTED!!! </p><p><br />We have been waiting decades for these elections.. So a couple of hours line queuing does not harm</p><p>#Tunisia: it's election day.First free elections after #ArabSpring.Will Islamists win?If so,will they be &quot;moderate&quot; as promised? Big moment.</p><p><br />It depends if they become oppressive. Many oppressive regimes have been voted into power. We shall watch and wait.</p><p>&quot;60 per cent,&quot; he says, with confidence. That's high, I say. &quot;But who knows? Perhaps 80 per cent.&quot;</p><p><br />Personally, and I'm not exaggerating, in Tunisia we have not enjoyed the revolution and I believe...Tunisians have made this a celebration of our January revolution.</p><p>The ballot boxes were shut, and they hugged each other with disappointment. </p><p>There are lots of parties, and I tried to understand their ideas but I couldn't find any that I agreed with. Not 100%. I could have voted for An-Nahda I suppose, because they're Islamic. But generally I'm not interested in politicians. It is their world that's made trouble for everyone.</p><p>...for many reasons, but mainly because of the participation of people from the old regime and parties re-constituted from Ben Ali's old party, the RCD. I do not think we can start something new while keeping the old elements. To talk of a revolution we have to cut totally with the past and with the old regime. This is not the case in Tunisia. </p><p>Once in the polling booth, I could not help but tremble. All my 22 years of life under corruption, inequality and brutality were there, when I dropped the little piece of paper in the transparent ballot box. And by the moment I left the polling booth, all of it was left<br />behind.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/23/tunisian-elections-2011-arab-and-middle-east-protests">Continue reading...</a>Tunisian elections 2011Arab and Middle East unrestTunisiaWorld newsAfricaMiddle East and North AfricaSun, 23 Oct 2011 21:20:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2011/oct/23/tunisian-elections-2011-arab-and-middle-east-protestsSean Clarke/Guardianguardian.co.ukEPAVoters, one draped in the national flag, queue up outside a polling station in Tunisia Photograph: EPAJamal Saidi/ReutersA man holds a list of candidates for the An-Nahda party in Sidi Bou Said, a popular tourist district, north of Tunisia October 22, 2011. accommodation. Tunisia will vote on Sunday in its first democratic election which could set the template for other Arab countries emerging from the "Arab Spring" uprisings. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi Photograph: Jamal Saidi/ReutersLizzy Davies in Tunis2011-10-23T21:20:00Z